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December 7, 2016

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Lead Article - Programming

Practical RPG: Processing Stream Files, Part 2

In part 1, we processed a directory. In part 2, we process one file in that directory.

Written by Joe Pluta

Stream files are not database files.

While that statement is obvious to programmers, it's not always clear to the greater community. The end users, the folks whose jobs we are supposed to be supporting, use various forms of stream files to store their data, and they don't understand why we can't for example just "use this spreadsheet" as part of our application. And while that's an interesting philosophical discussion, as programmers we sometimes have to simply get things done, and that in turn means taking whatever data the user sent us. I've spent a lot of time over the years importing data primarily from Exceland more specifically from comma-delimited files. Two techniques exist: CPYFRMIMPF and parsing the data in RPG. CPYFRMIMPF is a completely different animal that perhaps can be covered another…

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Feature Article - Programming

RPG Academy: Write Better Code - Commenting and Documenting Strategies

Usually, programmers don’t comment their code appropriately, for a variety of reasons: “I don’t have the time,” “My code speaks for itself,” etc. Mostly, they simply hate doing it. Let me try to refute these excuses with practical strategies and tools.

 Written by Rafael Victória-Pereira

As I’ve said throughout this series, a procedure’s name and parameter list should be enough for the programmer to understand the objective of that piece of code. However, there are times when this is not enough: complex procedures, generic names, uninspired input/output parameter names…and the list goes on and on. The next section of this TechTip will help you in the process of creating proper documentation for your newly created procedures and functions, with a few tips of what you should and shouldn’t do.

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JUST ADDED

IBM i Resources Retiring?

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Implementing Multiple Layers of Defense

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7 Habits of Highly Secure Organizations

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